How to Draw With Charcoal

This article was co-authored by Kelly Medford. Kelly Medford is an American painter based in Rome, Italy. She studied classical painting, drawing and printmaking both in the U.S. and in Italy. She works primarily en plein air on the streets of Rome, and also travels for private international collectors on commission. She is the founder of Sketching Rome Tours where she teaches sketchbook journaling to visitors of The Eternal City.

There are 22 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.

Drawing with charcoal is a popular medium that can create amazing works of art that are dimensional and versatile. Whether you are new to the world of art or exploring other mediums, drawing with charcoal can take some time to get the hang of, but can end up helping you master other art forms. It's as easy as selecting your materials, learning how to hold the charcoal, and creating your drawing.

Select a variety of hard and soft charcoal. Just like any other art mediums, charcoal comes in many varieties. However, each type of charcoal is categorized by whether it is hard or soft. Harder charcoals produce lighter cleaner edges, while softer charcoals are better for blending and making deeper lines.[1]

The compressed charcoal stick is a hard charcoal that is great for making darker lines. Compressed charcoal also comes in white to help with highlighting.[2]

Soft charcoals are great for blending and creating smudges throughout your piece. However, these are some of the messiest charcoals to work with.[3]

Use powdered charcoal for a lighter look and if you are toning larger areas. However, it is generally very messy.[4]

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Choose plain white paper, charcoal paper, or toned paper. When it comes to paper, there is a wide variety to choose from. Choosing the right paper for your piece may take some trial and error. Experiment with a few different paper styles and charcoal hardness to pick what works well for you.[5]

Plain white paper, newsprint, bristol board, and illustration board are good choices for a drawing with smooth lines. Plain white paper also creates natural highlights easily because the gray or white of the paper combines with the color of the charcoal.[6]

Toned papers that require you to use both white and black charcoal.[8]

Kelly Medford

Plein Air Painter

Kelly Medford is an American painter based in Rome, Italy. She studied classical painting, drawing and printmaking both in the U.S. and in Italy. She works primarily en plein air on the streets of Rome, and also travels for private international collectors on commission. She is the founder of Sketching Rome Tours where she teaches sketchbook journaling to visitors of The Eternal City.

Kelly Medford Plein Air Painter

Choose paper with some tooth. Kelly Medford, a Plein Air Painter, says: “You can draw with charcoal on anything from newsprint to handmade laid paper and anything in between. It’s better if you use a paper that has some tooth to it because charcoal is dusty and can fall off the paper. If the paper has some tooth, the charcoal will sit and stay more easily.”

Purchase a kneaded eraser, blending stump, and/or white chalk. Kneaded erasers can completely erase chalk. These, along with blending stumps and white chalk, can also be used to help create shadows and highlights in your drawing.[9]

Work at an easel if you are just starting out. It can be tricky to master drawing with charcoal because any accidental contact you have with your charcoal drawing will cause it to smudge. Start by working at an area where you can keep your drawing vertical and an area that is well-lit.[10]

You should always choose a well-lit area since charcoal drawings are on the darker side, it is difficult to see highlighting, shadows, and details of your drawing.

Pick up a fixative to hold the charcoal in place. “Fixing” your drawing once you’re done will keep any dust from the charcoal in place. Fixatives come as a spray that is applied by spraying it onto your work.[11]

Fixatives come in 2 types, final and workable. Many artists use the workable spray because you can make small changes to your work after it has been fixed. You cannot alter your work after using the final fixative.

You can use hairspray as an alternative, but be careful because it can cause the surface of your drawing to become slightly darker.

Hold the charcoal like a pencil to get sharp edges. If you want to create well-defined lines and edges, holding it like you would normally hold a pencil is your best bet. This stroke allows you to make sure that only the point of the charcoal is coming in contact with the paper.[12]

Place the charcoal on its side to create broader strokes. The easiest way to do this is to hold the charcoal with your thumb and forefinger, with your palm facing down. This lets you create broader strokes without smearing your work.[13]

Let your shoulder and elbow lead your strokes. One of the hardest parts about learning to draw with charcoal is to keep your wrist away from the page. Try to make your strokes using your shoulder and elbow instead of your wrist to give yourself a wider range of motion and to keep from accidentally smudging your work.[14]

Sketch any geometric shapes with a charcoal pencil. Anything and everything contains geometric shapes. The easiest way to begin drawing with charcoal is to identify the basic shapes and outline them lightly in your drawing.[15]

If you are drawing a subject, make sure to sketch the entire figure or scene before moving on to individual details. For example, if you are drawing a face, start with a circular or square shaped outline. Or use a use an oval to begin the drawing of a vase.

Use compressed charcoal to add defined edges to your drawing. After you have outlined the main shapes in your drawing, go back and add the more realistic traits. Make sure to revisit your work and sharpen the edges to help define each area of your drawing.[17]

Smudge the charcoal with a blending stump to add shadows. Charcoal is great for creating three-dimensional shapes that allow you to make your artwork more realistic. To add these shadows, use a rolled piece of paper or your finger to smudge and blend the charcoal.[18]

Smudge the areas around the contours of the face to add dimension such as the creases in a nose. You can also use smudging to create the texture of a flower.

Create a range of dark and light using a kneaded eraser. Kneaded erasers are great because they can act as a smudging or blending tool. If you have a lighter area in your subject, you should surround it by a dark background and vice versa.[19]

You can use your eraser to pull whites out to create contrast and highlight the darker areas.

If you don’t want to erase the charcoal to create highlights, you can use chalk or Conte crayon.

Conte crayons come in black and white and will enhance your drawings.[20]

Shade your drawing with a soft pencil to make it more realistic. Hatching is a great technique to shade wider areas. You can use circulism, contour shading, or cross-hatching to create realistic looking skin.[21]

Spray a fixative on your drawing to hold the charcoal in place. You always want to be in an area that is well-ventilated before using a fixative. Hold the can no more than 1 ft (12 in) from your drawing. Spray the fixative over your entire drawing and let it dry completely.[22]

If you are still noticing dust coming from your charcoal drawing, re-apply the fixative.

Kelly Medford

Plein Air Painter

Kelly Medford is an American painter based in Rome, Italy. She studied classical painting, drawing and printmaking both in the U.S. and in Italy. She works primarily en plein air on the streets of Rome, and also travels for private international collectors on commission. She is the founder of Sketching Rome Tours where she teaches sketchbook journaling to visitors of The Eternal City.

Kelly Medford Plein Air Painter

You can use charcoal to draw in masses of black, white, and gray. Charcoal is also great because it's easy to wipe away. In one second, you can wipe it off the page and redo the entire drawing.

A thin-tipped one for small areas -- H or HB. Use 6B for larger areas (this one will smudge more easily and will bunt more rapidly, though). A 6B will be slightly darker, even from the same box or kit, but overall darkness in your shading really depends on the pressure from your hand.

About This Article

This article was co-authored by Kelly Medford. Kelly Medford is an American painter based in Rome, Italy. She studied classical painting, drawing and printmaking both in the U.S. and in Italy. She works primarily en plein air on the streets of Rome, and also travels for private international collectors on commission. She is the founder of Sketching Rome Tours where she teaches sketchbook journaling to visitors of The Eternal City.

To draw with charcoal, hold it like a pencil to make sharp edges, applying more pressure if you want a darker line. To make softer, broader strokes, hold the charcoal on its side and drag it across your paper. If you want to add shadows to your drawing, use a piece of paper or your finger to smudge the charcoal. For highlights that contrast with the rest of your drawing, use an eraser to remove sections of the charcoal and reveal the paper underneath.

Reader Success Stories

A

Anonymous

Jun 25, 2018

"I got charcoal as gift and the person said, "You're an artist, I know you can figure it out." I sat there, clueless. All other sites I looked on were very complex. I stumbled upon wikiHow, and here it was, plain as day. Merci!"..." more

JJ

John Johnson

Jun 27, 2016

"It was a strange realization that you would be drawing with an eraser! I have only been used to oils, watercolors and ink drawing, so this was a real departure in terms of a technique."..." more